mixed a small bit of paint to match the finish on these Kato units...easy enough to replicate for the other can units... whipped out the microscale sheet with the tiny numbers (and finally read the instructions contained therein!...Lo and Behold!...answers to questions!...since I have two cab units with the same number, seems I'm going to have to renumber one of them...seems as if 54B was renumbered to 66L byt he time 1957 rolled around....so...that kind of makes make concern about cab units in the same consist with the same number in the number plates/board kind of moot!) I'm quite satisfied with the appearnace of the units with the numberboards...all that's left is to finish the others, spray the trucks...apply the light weathering...then VOILA!...the power for my Fast Mail and Grand Canyon will be done!...(wish I could be as enthusiastic about the CONSISTS for these trains!...seems like I have a lot of kitbashing ahead of me) Thanks for looking, Bruce
This good looking Key 3985 is on my workbench . . . . . Here are some shots of it stripped down .......... Boiler, weight, & chassis . . Note how the red and blue (?) wires are connected direct from chasis to backside of motor. Red engineers side and blue firemans side. Very easy to isolate the motor. I'll end up running six wires from tender to chasis because I will add a headlight during re-assembly. Close up of chasis showing twin worms and bearings. Neat & simple........ The weight screws down on top of the bearings & worms holding them in place. Finally the tender, floor and weight ......... This brass is an excellent runner on analog. It will soon sport a micro tsunami and 14mmx25mm oval speaker. Can hardly wait. BTW, I am not about to tinker with the two engines as they run very well now. Carl
Yep , Blair line and is real simple and efffective. The awnning over the booth was scratch built as well as the movie poster boards. Thanks , Mike
My outfit car campaign continues: Car #1 - side sills modified to match prototype (some material removed, some added using strip styrene), holes for grab irons drilled, grab irons, ladders, sill steps, roof vents and running boards prepared for installation: Car #2 - side openings for intakes and exhausts cut out and framed with strip styrene, outside ends attached permanently, grab irons and ladders prepared for installation: Car #3 - inside ends attached to floor (replacement for the Intermountain body), grab irons and ladders prepared for installation: Car #4 - STILL waiting for parts from Intermountain (sigh). If anyone has an undecorated unpainted unaltered Intermountain 40' diagonal panel roof, I would love to hear from you! Tim
Finally after a lot of dificulty snaking fiber optics through the shell I got some ditch lights on my dash 8. Next time I'm just going to use SMDs, they're so much easier to use. View attachment 41263
This is the Hinkle Yard on the Canyon Mtn-Ngineers' layout that I worked on this week. The hump yard office is being adapted from Kato's seafood restaurant. A piece of styrene, sprayed with black paint from a spray can, makes the office parking lot and forms the base for the building. The styrene plastic sheet is then placed on top of the styrofoam. The piece of track in front of the hump platform (in the first picture) is too short to serve any purpose, so I removed it to make way for a service road that will eventually wind its way up to the back side of the parking area. In the second picture about 1/2 inch of the Kato building's base was cut off and placed next to the track to extend the walking area for workers to move along the tracks while uncoupling the cars. Additional foam was placed next to the hump yard's ascending track to provide some filler that will cut back the amount of Skulptamold necessary to make the changing elevations blend in more with the surrounding features. In the next work session I will be applying the Sculptamold if all goes according to plan.
A few more vehicles shrunk down from HO scale - a 1946 Plymouth 2 door sedan, a 1941 Nash 4 door sedan, and a 1946 Chevrolet 2 door sedan. This one was not easy but when I saw this pelican style street cleaner in HO, I knew I had to have an N scale one.
Got back to working on a pair of Bmann 2-6-2s. One loco got a Belpaire while the other received some minor changes. Big problem with these locos is the use of the tender that only has front truck pick-up when Bmann has a nice short tender with both truck pick-up. Wanted to use one of my MP Vandys but to get closer coupling I needed to fabricate a new dawbar which I did by using some brass wire and the drawbar from one of the tenders that only had front truck pick-up. Also extending the cabs to hide that danged motor that sticks out a little better. Ordered a new short tender for the other with all wheel pick-up. Photo shows the new short tender with all wheel vs tender that came with the loco and front truck only. Also the MP Vandys show the standard drawbar and my modified one.
Thanks Flash , That would work well for the base. Just a couple gates and a guard or two. I am surprised that Micro-Trains has not done a theatre for the base series as ALL bases have a movie theatre. Mike
Have finally painted the trucks on all the ATSF passenger units... IMO, this is the easiest and most effective way to make these units look more prototypical... I used Tamiya's Flat Aluminum acrylic... still need to replace the stirrup ladders, new lift rings, pfoto-etched grills, then light weathering... Thanks for looking, Bruce
While awaiting a new tender for the 2-6-2 rebuilds to come in, along with some decals, decided to go back to the junk box and start another project. In this case it is an old LL 0-6-0 saddletank which is a marginal runner at best. Used to have a little cab forward made from a docksider. Decided to start another. First was the pick-up issue which I'm addressing by taking an old very beat up Rivarrossi Vandy from the junk box and start cutting. Thus a version of a whaleback tender is born using a Kato caboose chassis for pick-up. In the process of giving it a new pilot using a Z scale coupler, and adapting the coupler box to take the pilot. Next will be a lead truck.
Yikes John, hath your parts box no end? Wow, would I ever love to have even a fraction of the bits and pieces you've got, especially a little steam switcher. Sounds like a neat project though!
Well it has thinned a bit when I went through everything and tossed out alot of just plain junk most being some really old beat up diesel shells. I've thinned my tender box alot and will some more now that I realize that I'm short of tenders for some of my M of W stuff, but its still 30 plus years of accumulation. I do have enough shells though that if something takes a serious nose dive from the high board I can replace a few of them. Real stock though is in building parts and loco details.
